I thought, “Who is this Tim Ferriss guy and what does he know about getting out of my job.” I thought it was another fluff book written by someone just to make a buck, one of those books which game their way to the Times best sellers list. The truth is Tim Ferriss and this book is the real deal.
Long story short, I dropped the ball at being at the forefront than on something which could have changed my life. Then I read the book. Now it’s been how many years since that book came out, something like eight? And I’m just now out of my job.
The point of my blubbering on about my being behind the curve is to show I was too scared to put the actions in that book to use and work toward creating something better for myself. Fear kept me paralyzed for years even when the solution was right in front of me.
If like me you are too cautious in life to say screw it on a whim and set out on your own. Tim provides a solution that I should have tried. But suggest anyone sitting on the fence about quitting their job try for themselves. The idea of the mini vacation.
The mini vacation works better in some jobs than others.
Not all jobs work well for Tim’s mini-vacation scheme. He talks a lot about remote work and getting away from the office. This scenario works perfectly if you are a digital worker tied into a network of computers, or if you are in a creative position where you toss a laptop into a bag and can be off-creating anywhere. I think in creative positions it’s better to be out in the world working at different locations anyway. It sharpens the mind and keeps the ideas juices flowing.
But, what if you are in a blue-collar job where your job is connected to being at a specific location? When talking about these cool leave-your-job ideas, the blue-collar worker always seems to be left out of the ideal mix. So, I’d like to explore this topic some because I was a blue-collar worker and no one talked about ideas that seemed to fit me. Basically, I found, you will need to use vacation time to explore new opportunities for work or think about new career paths which might interest you more. We’ll cover this more in another section.
If the idea of leaving your job is a long-term goal start developing a plan to get you there. Let’s look at the easiest jobs to
The way it works in easy jobs.
I lump mini vacations into several different actions you can take. Ferriss brakes it down a little differently in his book which is why I recommend you get yourself a copy and read it. I love the book and have two copies, one in hardcover and one in digital.
The first way is to take mini vacations in long blocks of time where you work remotely as a trial run. With each successful trial, you back it up with an even longer trial. The first thing you will need to do before presenting this idea to your boss is to know all the working systems of the company well and know what your physical presence in the company offers. Some companies may have some ancient paper workflows they still use that link person to be in the physical location. Study the system well and figure out changes that would need to be made to take you physically out of there without disrupting workflow.
Creative jobs or jobs which are simply a laptop at a desk are easy to figure a way out of. If you are stuck in jobs that still bury people in mounds of physical paperwork, I would start by suggesting ways to eliminate the paperwork before even mentioning a remote working system to your boss. You can also suggest getting glass walls in your office so you can enhance privacy and productivity. How does this help? With glass walls, your colleagues won’t always go to your space just to chat. It lessens those idle times, leading you to do more.
Once you get your system in place and clicking along smoothly, go to your boos and suggest a situation as a trial where you could work from home one or two days a week. Layout the system you currently use which puts no strain on the company because you are doing your job with no need for the physical location you are in. He or she may require stricter benchmarks to prove productivity. They want to make sure they are getting their money’s worth for the time they might see you as screwing off. For the first several trials you may have to submit daily productivity reports. This is a small price to pay for being free of the office environment.
After a while, you can slowly increase the time away to weeks or months. Instead of working strictly from home, jump on a plane and go on a real vacation. This is usually the exact time you do a quick research on details like how much does it cost to get into dollywood.
As long as you are meeting your daily work quota, it won’t matter where you are working from. I wouldn’t let it out that you are working from a tropical beach somewhere while the rest of the office suffers in the cold. You might find some pretty unhappy coworkers the next time you show up in the office in the middle of the winter with a tan.
A plan for the less easy job.
Now let’s have a look at the location-dependent job. This is another way the blue-collar lifestyle is much more difficult than the white-collar life. These people are married to their location. A mechanic won’t be able to mechanic from a beach somewhere. But, what if the mechanic started a website about mechanicing? Or, worked at a help desk-type site answering questions about how to fix things. I see this more and more every day and as the web grows, services like this will become more popular and open up opportunities for well-skilled blue-collar workers to work in the digital world. Here is the thing. If blue-collar workers want to become location independent, they will need to learn to use computers. I know many mechanics who hate their jobs, and much worse, their career paths. But, the hat uses computers more. Here I’m going to present it very bluntly. If you want to work remotely and begin giving yourself mini vacations, you need to embrace the tools which will allow you to work remotely. You don’t need to be a computer programming geek, but just learn enough about the tools to get you online and start creating value for your company or customers.
Instead of using your two weeks’ vacation to go explore for two weeks, maybe use some of that time to stay home and learn something new. Don’t let the fact that you have a location-independent job discourage you from figuring out your plan as I did for so long. If your employment contract outlines specific terms for dismissal that were not followed, you may need help challenging an unjust job dismissal from an employment lawyer.
Using your mini vacation to set you up to get away from your job.
Many of you might be well content taking mini vacations while still working for a company. But, what if you are not? What if your goal now is to get out of your job and work from home or anywhere you want in the world? The mini vacation is stepping halfway into that world already. I think mindset plays a large part in getting away from your job. If you have already proved to yourself you can earn money from home and work productively outside the office, what is the next step? The next step for the person working from home at their regular job will be a much smoother transition to something on their own than someone working in an office wanting to take the leap.
Sit and analyze the missing pieces to the puzzle of what will get working without your job. Your job ultimately provides you with the work to do and collects the money for the work you did. Could you do the same? Start freelancing and find out. Freelancing will provide you with that bridge to fill in the gap of pieces you need. Reconfigure your freelancing business until it’s running smoothly.
I honestly think the remote work environment is still growing and will be the environment of the future. Office space is expensive. As we get more collaborative tools and better ways to network teams, remote working and mini vacations will be the primary way people work in our society. The problem is software and internet speeds and reliability just isn’t there yet. When it gets there though, look for a work environment where ¾’s or better your digital workforce will work from anywhere in the world they want to be.